With much work ahead, Peoria's Madison Theater complex takes first steps toward renovation
PEORIA — A group that plans to renovate the long-shuttered Madison Theater has accomplished its first major goal.
The Comfort family trust has donated the Downtown Peoria theater, which opened in 1920, to the Madison Preservation Association. The donation came in conjunction with the Comforts' $1.3 million sale of the theater building's retail frontage along Main Street.
Private investors allied with the not-for-profit preservation association purchased the retail space. The arrangement helps facilitate eventual not-for-profit control of the entire complex at Main Street and Madison Avenue.
The preservation-association board of directors consists of seven Peoria-area residents who represent business, real estate and the arts, among other endeavors.
According to association secretary Cody Giebelhausen, construction on the retail spaces is to begin in late summer. Renovation of the crumbling theater, which has been closed 19 years, is targeted for spring 2024 completion.
The theater renovation project likely will cost $30 million to $35 million. Association fundraising is to account for $10 million. Most of the renovation money is to come from federal and state historic tax credits.
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"So many different people have so many different reasons for wanting to support it," Giebelhausen said about the public reaction his group has received. "I don't think we've come across anybody saying it's best left as a parking lot, tear it down."
Restaurant, events space part of the Madison plan
Sale of the retail portion of the building became final the week of Jan. 9, as did the theater donation, Giebelhausen said. He would not disclose the investors who purchased the retail portion.
The storefronts are to house a reincarnation of Two25, a restaurant once housed at the Mark Twain Hotel in Downtown. Banquet and special-event space also is part of the plan.
"The surrounding businesses need to see something happen here," Giebelhausen said.
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Hoops Pub and Pizza, which is part of the Main Street retail frontage, is owned separately and is not part of the renovation plan.
Priorities once theater work begins are to weatherproof it and repair the leaky roof, according to Giebelhausen. He estimated reconstruction will take about 18 months.
Madison was one of many Downtown Peoria theaters
Last July, Giebelhausen's group announced its plans to take possession of and renovate the building. Among other things, the renewed facility would be able to play host to concerts, private events, live theater and motion pictures old and new.
The Madison opened during an era when downtown theaters were plentiful, and Peoria was a major stop on the vaudeville circuit. In the years before it closed, the theater played host to concerts and comedy shows, among other events.
In 2016, an arson fire damaged part of the theater.
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Giebelhausen and his associates are seeking Madison Theater photographs from between 1930 and 2000, to help record the venue's history. That effort also might help educate Peorians like Giebelhausen, 25, who doesn't remember when the Madison was open.
"They've always known it to be that blighted block," he said. "That younger generation, they don't know what's behind those doors. It's been in our community for 100 years, and it's been closed our entire lives."
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Preservation group takes control of Peoria's historic Madison Theater
